At Miami, Clinton to win despite narrowing gap

Miami students will favor Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on election day, according to a survey from The Miami Student. Forty-one percent of respondents said they will be voting for Clinton versus 32.8 percent who will be casting a ballot for the GOP candidate Donald Trump.

Among the remaining students, 5.6 percent will be voting for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and 2.2 percent for Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Ten percent of respondents have not decided how they will vote and 7.8 percent do not plan to vote.

Although the responses indicate a majority for Clinton, when asked for which major party candidate students believe Miami students will vote for, 52.8 percent indicated Trump over the 46 percent who said Clinton.

The survey was sent to a random sampling of students gathered by the university’s Office of Institutional Research. The 182 respondents included students of all genders from every undergraduate grade level and college. Responses were gathered during the last two weeks of October.

Although last month’s polls indicated a wider gap, this week’s polls have shown a tightening in the race. The most recent poll from ABC News and the Washington Post shows Clinton with just a two percent lead, at 47 percent versus Trump’s 45. Libertarian candidate Johnson sits at three percent and Stein at two.

When asked about affiliation with a political party, 33 percent identified themselves as registered Republicans while only 18.3 percent identified as registered Democrats. The largest group, 40 percent, are not registered with a political party, and 7.8 percent as Independent.

When asked to rank issues based on the influence it would have on his or her vote, respondents indicated the economy as the most influential followed by a tie between education and national security. These issues were followed, in order, by social issues, immigration, health care, criminal justice, the environment and religion.

Among the spread of first-years, sophomores, juniors and seniors, about 64 percent have never voted in any election before, 28 percent have voted once before and about eight percent have voted two or more times.

The majority of students who responded to the survey, about 60 percent did not vote in the presidential primary, and the vast majority, 94 percent are registered to vote.

Voting will be hosted in Oxford on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at three different polling locations — the Shriver Center, Talawanda High School and Talawanda Middle School. Students can find their polling location by visiting butlercountyelections.org.